On How I Got Here

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York known for its long winters and significant snowfall. While my father was an engineer, he was a big fan of a liberal arts education and I headed off to Williams College where I majored in Political Economy. Post-college, I worked in corporate finance for 3 years splitting my time between the tech and m&a groups. In my spare time, I started seed investing and helped 3 startups raise their initial capital and scale into real companies. I became hooked on venture and went to Stanford to get my MBA, joining Matrix upon graduation.

On Why I invest

Over the years at Matrix we have been very fortunate to have worked with the best technologists in the world, first here in the US and more recently in China and India. While a humbling experience, the process of helping founders shape an idea, and then launch and scale their company is extremely gratifying.

Our Style

We understand our role well and that the heavy lifting is done by the people we back – starting companies isn’t easy. We are good listeners and don’t provide canned advice. Every company is different. We have extensive collective experience at Matrix that we all share, borne out of many successes and failures that help shape our POV and advice. While not cheerleaders – we want to discuss the important issues transparently – we are always supportive. We are committed to winning and work extremely hard to make that a reality. Your odds of success are better with us than with anyone else.

Experience

Many years of experience backing first-time founders (and many returnees) across business cycles (through good times and bad). More recently, while continuing to invest in the US, I have led our international efforts, recruiting our founding partners in China and India and overseeing our operations in Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai and Bangalore. We have an extensive footprint in each geography and are well established with the best entrepreneurs and leading new companies.

Merrill Lynch Capital Markets
M&A, corporate finance

Education

Williams College
BA, Political Economy

Stanford Graduate School of Business
MBA

Co-Founder

Paul Ferri

Previous projects

Airvana

Apollo Computer

Apple Computer

Argon Networks

Arris Networks

ArrowPoint Communications

Aylus Networks

Azimuth

Bytex

Cascade Communications

Communications Equipment

LNR Communications

Netezza

Paradyne

Redstone Communications

Sonus Networks

Stratus Computer

Sycamore Networks

Terak

Veritech Microwave

VeriVue

VeVeo

VideoServer

Winphoria Networks

Xyplex

Bio

Paul Ferri is the founder of Matrix Partners, and one of the most respected investors in the venture capital industry. Like many of the entrepreneurs with whom he has worked over the years, Paul was born in another country and built his legacy from scratch, persevering through adverse conditions and making the best of the opportunity and luck that came his way.

Born in Rome, Italy, Paul immigrated to the U.S. at the age of seven. It was 1944, the height of World War II, and neither Paul nor anyone in his family spoke English. His family settled in Virginia where his father worked for the government as an aeronautics engineer. They ultimately moved to the suburbs of New York, where Paul grew up. Paul studied engineering at Cornell University and the Polytechnic Institute of New York, and business at Columbia University.

In 1977 Paul and Warren Hellman co-founded Hellman Ferri Investment Associates. The duo initially invested across multiple stages and in multiple sectors, and after five years Paul and Warren decided the best approach would be to develop distinct areas of expertise. Warren started a late stage private equity fund in San Francisco, which became Hellman & Friedman; Paul focused on early stage deals and established Matrix Partners in 1982.

Over the next few years, Paul began to direct the firm’s investments toward information technology start-ups. One of the most significant companies Paul supported was Cascade Communications. The company, founded by Desh Deshpande and run by Dan Smith, became an industry leader that spawned new innovations. The company sold to Ascend, which was later bought by Lucent. Cascade’s founders and employees went on to found some of the most significant companies of the era, including ArrowPoint, Sonus Networks and Sycamore Networks—all of which were Matrix portfolio companies.

Paul has led more than twenty portfolio companies to the public markets, and another twenty to profitable acquisitions. He continues to invest on behalf of the firm and guide his entrepreneurs through the ups and downs of start-up life on the path to success.

Education

Cornell University
B.S. Electrical Engineering

Polytechnic Institute of New York
M.S. Electrical Engineering

Columbia University
MBA

General Partner

Josh Hannah

Current Projects

Canva

GOAT

Huddle

Inflection

Kinnek

Koding

Quora

RocksBox

Stream Labs

Taulia

TechStyle

Previous projects

Betfair

On How I Got Here

I’ve always had curiosity around technology and a mind for business. I must have been born with the business side — my Dad was a professor of education and my parents met in the Peace Corps, so there were no term sheets or strategy discussions in the house growing up.

I graduated from UC Berkeley right before Mosaic and Netscape changed everything. Pre-internet, the idea that you could be young and an entrepreneur was less obvious than it is today. It wasn’t until I went to Stanford business school that I clearly saw I wanted to be an entrepreneur.

My first venture was built in London creating a NASDAQ-style prediction market, now called Paddy Power Betfair – we made betting on sports, politics, or anything you want, into a financial instrument that can be traded just like a stock or an option. It took years to scale and there were many twists and turns. Today it’s the largest business of its kind in the world, with $2B+ in annual revenue and market capitalization of $9B+. I’m a small part of what ended up becoming a huge thing. It was a great ride and it put me on the map.

California called, and I knew it was where I wanted to build my life. I bought, with a co-founder, a business called eHow, a content site for all things How-To. Started in 1998, it went bankrupt in 2000 before we bought in 2004. We did a quick turnaround, had a great financial outcome, and out of that spun another business, wikiHow, that my co-founder still runs.

On Why I Invest

I have more talent for seeing an opportunity than I do for leading a big team. As an investor, I think I can really help people who are building businesses see around the next corner better and help with making the right decision a higher percentage of the time.

There are lots of people in this town with checkbooks. In the current investing environment, good ideas are not failing to see the light of day for a lack of funding. I’m proud of the reputation Matrix has built despite the noise — we get more entrepreneurs taking our money a second time than any firm because people like what we do for them.

I think founders choose to take investment from me personally because they feel they can trust me and that I’ll do the right thing by the business, regardless of how crazy things get. Being a founder is lonely — knowing your investor has got your back isn’t something you should have to compromise on.

Experience

Betfair
Co-founder (originally Flutter.com)

eHow
CEO

Bain & Co.
Consultant (an education masquerading as a job)

Education

University of California, Berkeley
BA, Economics

Stanford Graduate School of Business
MBA

General Partner

Hardi Meybaum

Current Projects

Starship Technologies

CARMERA

On How I Got Here

Computers were exceedingly rare growing up in Estonia, but I was lucky: my mother was a teacher, so I had access to the school tech desk. Developing my digital proficiency was formative — as were the hours I clocked getting classic games like Warcraft to work on our creaky PC.

Later on I studied mechanical engineering, which gave me the foundation to apply my tech skills to the physical world. I got a job working as the CIO at a top manufacturer, where I developed a passion for optimization and automation. I realized I wanted to find a way to empower everyone with the same tools and techniques.

Starting GrabCAD in 2009, we had no choice but to focus on the fundamentals. Venture funding was practically unheard of in Estonia so we worked to generate revenue from day one — and because the domestic market was small, we always had plans to scale globally. Thankfully we got traction quickly; it wasn’t long before we were exploring ways to grow bigger, faster.

When I arrived in the United States in 2011, one of my first stops was to meet Matrix GP David Skok, who previously started a company in the same industry. We hit it off, and Matrix’s investment played a key role in GrabCAD’s expansion — it now features nearly 4 million creators — and a successful exit. I was thrilled when Matrix later invited me to become part of the team.

On Why I Invest

I want to instill people with the confidence they need to build new things. There’s something about the act of creation — of seeing your idea manifested in real life — that quickly becomes addictive. That’s what drove my vision for GrabCAD, and it’s why I founded a nonprofit called Eesti 2.0 that brings tangible experiences in STEM to thousands of students in Estonia, with a curriculum that includes 3D printing and littleBits.

We’re living in a pivotal time for hardware, rethinking the physical objects around us and redefining what people do with technology. But the nuts and bolts aren’t going to make themselves useful, so I’m very interested in compelling software too.

I like working with founders who are guided by their inner dogma, who aren’t shaken by the constant stream of problems they face. It isn’t enough to have new insights into a market — it’s about having someone who can champion those ideas and recover when they stumble. As investors our job is not to criticize founders for doing the wrong thing, it’s to empower them to get their footing and keep building.

Experience

GrabCAD

Education

Tallinna Tehnikaülikool
MSc, Production Engineering

General Partner

Stan Reiss

Current Projects

Acacia Communications (NASDAQ: ACIA)

LogRocket

RightHand Robotics

Xtalic

Previous projects

Hyper9 (>SolarWinds)

QPID Heath (>eviCore)

On How I Got Here

I was born in Gdansk, a shipbuilding city in the north of Poland. When my family emigrated to the United States in 1982 I didn’t speak the language. The teachers introduced me to a Commodore PET and I found writing simple programs to be a terrific escape from the strange language and culture waiting in the classroom.

My first real tech job was designing test logic for microchips. It was a compulsory lesson in getting the architecture right. On the other hand, programming had previously taught me how important it is to just get going and repeatedly tweak things to get to the final answer. Both lessons, opposite in many ways, apply to company building as well as engineering. And, are a good example of how great it would be if technical folks, who have all learned them, could run the world.

On Why I Invest

The best part of being an investor is working with those unique individuals willing to take the plunge and start a company. Quitting your job to go all in on something that’s completely ephemeral, with no team, no money, friends telling you that you’re crazy — that takes a lot of guts. Having the skills to turn that idea into something real is extremely rare. Entrepreneurs are anomalies; ones that drive the economy.

Because I focus on the more technical investments, the particular entrepreneurs I back are brilliant technologists building cool stuff. Stuff no one has done before, that may or may not sell, and may or may not even work. Those entrepreneurs and I have together bet on “impossible” markets (Acacia), “impossible” technologies (Xtalic), and “impossible” customers (QPID). Sometimes the ideas truly are infeasible and it doesn’t work out. But when we ask the right questions along the way, manage the inevitable ups and downs, and all put in the requisite effort, remarkably frequently it does. And there is no better rush than working with someone to take a new, often complex, tech idea – which I’m constantly being blown away by – and getting through all the real world issues to turn it into a reality. For me it’s my small chance to make the world a better place.

Education

General Partner

Antonio Rodriguez

Current Projects

Intent Media

MarkForged

Owl Labs

Sqrrl Data

Previous projects

Oculus VR (>Facebook)

Echo Nest (>Spotify)

Care.com (NYSE: CRCM)

On How I Got Here

In 2005 I started a company called Tabblo that Matrix backed and which we sold to HP where I became one of their CTOs. That exit culminated a fifteen year run in startups where I’d begun as an engineer at the beginning of the web and was fortunate enough to manage teams in engineering and product through three companies. So for my first time at the helm, it was important to me to partner with folks at Matrix who could make a CEO out of me.

When I came to the US for school from Venezuela, my entire picture of American culture was framed between Star Wars and the Apple II. Imagine what an amazing surprise it was to learn that I could do entrepreneurship and technology in one career. Up until that point all of the entrepreneurs in my family had done basic staples like food, soap or beer and it took them decades to get to where the world’s greatest lever — technology — could get equally hard working entrepreneurs in just a few years here in the US. Once I figured that out, I was hooked.

On Why I Invest

When William Gibson wrote that the “future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed” he surely didn’t know about the great hack to that problem that is early stage investing. Every day I meet with founders who are pulling that future forward towards the rest of us and it’s been both an honor and a pleasure to invest in some of them: from intelligent machines (Echo Nest) to personal fabricators (Markforged), from the holodeck (Oculus) to telepresence (Owl Labs) to name just a few.

Services and hardware are turning into software and software is leverage in its purest form — be it for single users or large companies. I’ve spent enough time thinking about this both prior to and during my time in venture that helping founders build companies feels like a great way to pay back for the front seat to the future. And, to provide for other founders what Matrix did for me during my time in the arena.

To that end, one of my favorite insights on how to help as an investor comes from our founding partner, Paul Ferri. He taught me the key to being effective in the boardroom is realizing you’re not there to outsmart everyone — but to help during the few critical moments when, whether through experience or because of what you’ve learned from the privilege of being on the board, you can give entrepreneurs just a bit more leverage on what stands between them and the future they are trying to create.

Experience

HP
CTO

Tabblo
Founder & CEO

MyPublisher

Abuzz

The Boston Consulting Group

Education

Harvard University
AB Phi Beta Kappa

Stanford University
MBA

General Partner

David Skok

Current Projects

Cloudbees

Conductor

Digium

Meteor

Namely

Salsify

Storiant

Zaius

Previous projects

AppIQ

Cloudswitch

Diligent Technologies

Enservio

GrabCAD

HubSpot (NASDAQ: HUBS)

JBoss

OpenSpan

Tabblo

Bio

David Skok joined Matrix Partners as a General Partner in May 2001. He has a wealth of experience running companies. David started his first company in 1977 at age 22. Since then David has founded a total of four separate companies and performed one turn-around. Three of these companies went public.

David joined Matrix from SilverStream Software, which he founded in June 1996. Prior to its July 2002 acquisition by Novell, SilverStream was a public company that had reached a revenue run rate in excess of $100M, with approximately 800 employees and offices in more than 20 countries around the world.

David’s work as a value added investor is best known for helping HubSpot, JBoss, AppIQ, Tabblo, Netezza, Diligent Technologies, CloudSwitch, TribeHR, GrabCAD, OpenSpan and Enservio to successful exits. David currently serves on the boards of Atomist, CloudBees, Conductor, Digium (makers of the very popular Asterisk Open Source PBX/telephony software), Meteor, NamelyHR, Salsify, Storiant, VideoIQ and Zaius.

In addition to his broad focus on enterprise software, David is specifically focused on the areas of SaaS (software as a service), cloud, mobility, Open Source, marketing automation, virtualization, storage, and data center automation.

David writes a blog for entrepreneurs and startups on topics such as viral marketing, SaaS metrics, building a sales and marketing machine, techniques for lowering cost of customer acquisition, etc. The blog can be found here: www.forEntrepreneurs.com.

Experience

SilverStream Software
Founder and CEO

Watermark Software
Founder and CEO

Xionics
CEO

Corporate Software
Founder and CEO

Skok Systems
Founder and CEO

Education

University of Sussex, England
B.Sc., Computer Science, graduated at the top of his class

Awarded prize for best degree by IEEE

Harrow School

Senior Associate

Jared Sleeper

On How I Got Here

I’m from a small town in Northern Maine where my family has owned and operated a general store since 1914. Growing up, I worked with my father and grandfather doing whatever needed to be done: repairing the roof, cashiering, stocking shelves and (my favorite) demolition. I learned all about the challengessmall businesses face against a big world. My dad woke before dawn each morning to open the shop. No excuses.

When I was twelve, I started investing in stocks. My first three were a biotech company, an oil driller and a shipwreck hunting company. I didn’t make much money in the end (see: Black Swan Treasure), but I did become addicted to studying businesses.

At Harvard, I led the college’s largest investment club and refocused it on fundamentals: understanding companies deeply and fostering fiercely open debate. I majored in economics but I thrived on different perspectives and loved arguing late into the night with archaeology students about the ethics of selling sunken treasure.

At Putnam, I started as an associate and over time became responsible for analyzing small and mid-size tech companies for $50bn of mutual funds. My work in ad-tech, consumer internet, cybersecurity and SaaS, led to investments in GrubHub, Delivery Hero, Criteo, Proofpoint, Uber, ServiceNow, Shopify and Wix.

On Why I Invest

I joined Matrix because while I love the intellectual challenge of investing, I’m energized by helping entrepreneurs change the world. My favorite founders have a vision for what the future will look like (even if it requires a little squinting), paired with a plan to make it happen, the drive to see it through and the nimbleness to adapt along the way.

Like so many founders, I saw that working with the team at Matrix is a special opportunity. They are ex-operators and domain experts with empathy and strong opinions in spades, which they use to relentlessly support and invest in promising entrepreneurs.

Experience

Putnam Investments
Equity Analyst

Education

Harvard College
B.A. Economics

General Partner

Dana Stalder

Current Projects

ActiveHours

ApartmentList

Bugsnag

Lever

Poynt

Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN)

ZestFinance

Previous projects

Polyvore (>Yahoo!)

QuinStreet (NASDAQ: QNST)

Zong (>PayPal)

Bio

Dana Stalder knows what it takes to turn a scrappy start-up into a strong, independent company. Dana has managed nimble ventures as well as 2,500-person teams. He has sat on both sides of the table in acquisition talks and sold to consumers, small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike. His experience cuts across multiple disciplines including sales, marketing, finance, technology and product management at companies such as eBay, Netscape and PayPal.

“My goal each day is to help entrepreneurs get where they want to go. I have been in their shoes, struggling to launch new businesses, and I have scaled high-growth public companies,” he says. “I am passionate about identifying future leaders and helping them develop and use their individual talents to make a lasting impact.”

Dana was born and raised in Silicon Valley, and studied business and economics at Santa Clara University. After college he worked at Ernst & Young advising technology companies such as Quantum, Sun Microsystems, Remedy, Netscape, and Intuit.

In 1994 he left to help build Netscape, then a nascent, few-month-old, pre-revenue company defining the ways in which consumers and enterprises were going to use the Internet. In his four-year tenure, Dana held several executive positions in finance, sales and operations.

Dana left Netscape after its sale to AOL in 1998 and became a member of the founding team of Respond.com, an early pioneer in online lead generation. There, he served as the company’s Vice President of Business Development and Chief Financial Officer.

Dana joined eBay in 2001. As Vice President of Internet Marketing, Dana managed the company’s global customer acquisition strategy and a hundred million-dollar Internet marketing budget. Dana was also responsible for eBay’s Strategic Partnership Group, which generated several hundred million in revenue from third party partnerships and media sales.

In 2004 Dana joined PayPal, where he managed all business operations, including product, sales, marketing and, eventually, technology. Dana started PayPal’s international business from scratch, and led PayPal’s expansion beyond the eBay platform onto other online retail sites. He also initiated a number of other startup projects, including PayPal Mobile and the PayPal Developer Platform.

Dana left PayPal in 2008 to join Matrix Partners, where he invests predominantly in FinTech, Consumer Marketplaces, and Enterprise Software.

Experience

PayPal
Senior Vice President of Product, Sales, Marketing and Technology

eBay
Vice President of Internet Marketing and Strategic Partnerships

Respond.com
Founding executive team, Vice President of Business Development & Chief Financial Officer

Netscape
Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Operations, Sales & Service

Education

Santa Clara University
BS, Commerce

General Partner

Ilya Sukhar

Current Projects

Hustle

Open Listings

On how I got here

My parents left the Soviet Union in search of a better life when I was very young. In San Francisco, they started out cleaning and painting homes. Today they’re entrepreneurs — they both code more than I do.

I grew up on early versions of the internet, hacking together my own games and sharing them on IRC. Nothing beats tinkering and building something for your friends.

I’m glad I didn’t take the cushy corporate job right out of school. My first two startup experiences worked out well enough but success was hard won — layoffs, pivots, failures, and painful fundraises during the 2008 crash. I learned far more than I would’ve on a smooth ride.

At Parse, we set out to change how developers built apps — reaching millions of developers and powering hundreds of thousands of apps. From writing the first lines of code, managing the acquisition to leading the team as a semi-autonomous unit inside Facebook, it was both hard and great.

I led all of Facebook’s developer products including early efforts to build a developer platform in Messenger. It was a big change. Product-market fit and scale trump all. Facebook focuses on only a few important things and re-evaluates methodically — which is a huge advantage.

On why I invest

Investing at Matrix is my way to continue building. From building startups to angel investing to working at Y Combinator, I’ve fallen hard for the gritty work of the early days.

The best startup ideas come from an obsession with fixing personal pain points. Even so, it takes exceptionally rare drive to choose the hard path and will something into existence from nothing.

The best thing about being a Founder-CEO is the privilege of leading a team that takes on your vision and mission as their own.

The hardest thing about being a Founder-CEO is managing your own psychology. You have to get comfortable with being very uncomfortable. You have to discount the daily blips. Internalize them, swallow them and steamroll through.

Tell me your war stories and I’ll tell you mine. I want to sympathize, offer guidance and suggestions. I care and will be there, no matter what.

Experience

Ooyala

Etacts

Parse

Facebook

Education

Cornell University
B.S., Computer Science, Operations Research and Information Engineering

Cornell University
M.Eng., Computer Science

General Partner

Andrew Verhalen

Current Projects

Panzura

Sila Nanotechnologies

Previous projects

Alteon Websystems (ATON)

Ambarella (AMBA)

Arroyo Video Solutions

Blue Martini Softwaren (BLUE)

Cadia Networks

Centrum Communications

Copper Mountain Networks (CMTN)

Grand Junction Networks

Openwave Systems (OPWV)

Red Pepper Software

SiTera

Skyfire

Turnstone Systems (TSTN)

Watchguard Technologies (WGRD)

On how I got here

After graduate school, I came west to work in the Microprocessor Group at Intel during the dawn of the PC industry. The environment was intense as we raced to expand the market, but it was a great proving ground where I developed my management skills.

From there I moved to 3Com, just as companies were beginning to build corporate networks. I had the opportunity to recruit a team, help define and launch new products that propelled us to become the clear market leader. As we scaled the business it became the revenue and profit engine for the company.

On why I invest

One of Matrix’s strongest assets as a firm is its long history. It’s ingrained in our culture to analyze our successes and failures as a team to make sure entrepreneurs can benefit from our extensive collective experience.

We invest in people, not companies. We strive hard to build mutual trust and respect with founders, otherwise we can’t help them.

Founders are navigating uncharted waters. We’re here to assist and advise, but they are on the front line. We help to recruit great talent, provide perspective, and avoid mistakes we’ve witnessed at other companies.

At board meetings, I mostly listen — I only comment on a few things I consider really important. I’m not there as a decision maker, but as a coach and mentor. Ultimately, the CEO has to decide what to do.

Experience

3Com
Vice President of Marketing and GM, network adapters and hubs. Started new division, which grew to revenues of more than $250 million.

Education

Cornell University
BS and MEng Electrical Engineering, MBA

Controller

Samantha Belinkie

Bio

As controller I help ensure our financial reporting is accurate and timely. From auditing reports to managing capital accounts, my idea of success is giving the rest of the team the confidence to focus on innovating and executing.

My career began at a Big Four accounting firm, where I learned to navigate a range of industries — each with their own challenges. After completing my Masters program and earning my CPA, I landed at a large global private equity firm. I thrived in the fast-paced environment, and my role grew as I rose to manage a team of accountants.

Working in private equity gave me a bird’s eye view of the finance world, but the particulars were often hard to make out. At Matrix, it’s easy to connect the dots between our funds and the entrepreneurs deploying capital to build something great. The fact that the team here is so warm and personable has made the jump even more rewarding.

People are often surprised to hear I work in accounting, but it’s always appealed to me — like a puzzle waiting to be solved. Every equation has to balance, and there’s always an answer to be found. There aren’t many things in life that add up the way they should; I appreciate those that do.

Experience

HarbourVest Partners
Deloitte & Touche

Education

Boston College
B.S. Accounting, Cum Laude

Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management
M.S. Accounting

Certified Public Accountant, Massachusetts

Head of Marketing

Lauren Detro

Bio

I’ve always loved hearing people’s stories; they reveal so much more than what’s on the surface. Studying psychology gave me a way to channel that into helping others, and I began my career as a therapist. It was deeply fulfilling, but the burdens were heavy — and the field is bogged in bureaucracy. I started at Matrix as an admin. I was drawn to the intelligence and kindness from everyone on the team — and to getting a courtside seat to an energizing industry.

A bit later on, I started contributing to our marketing efforts; before I knew it I was in meetings with partners, helping with portfolio company launch strategies and more. I can’t imagine many places that would have given me this opportunity.It’s a privilege working closely with the team and our portfolio. Each partner is their own person, each founder is pursuing something much bigger than themselves. Helping identify the uniqueness in their perspectives is the key to effectively sharing their story.

I love the variety here: every time I go to reach for my next task, I find something new. From managing our brand, content and events, to engaging with the community and directing PR initiatives — the novelty keeps me on my toes and makes the work fulfilling.

Education

UC Santa Barbara
B.A. Psychology and Exercise & Health Science

Santa Clara University
M.A. Counseling Psychology

Administrative Partner

Phyllis Doherty

Bio

Prior to joining the firm, Phyllis held a variety of financial roles at five venture backed technology startups, where she also gained experience in the IPO and acquisition processes.

Most recently she held CFO positions at edocs and WebSpective Software. Prior to that she was with SolidWorks, Atria Software, and Epoch Systems. Both Atria and Epoch were successful Matrix Partners-backed companies. Before entering the start-up environment, Phyllis spent eight years at Prime Computer. She started her career as an auditor with Deloitte and Touche.

Experience

edocs
CFO

WebSpective Software
CFO

SolidWorks Corp.
Treasurer

Atria Software
Controller

Epoch Systems
Director of Planning & Analysis

Prime Computer
various financial roles

Deloitte & Touche
Auditor

Education

Emmanuel College
BA, Mathematics

Northeastern University
MS, Accounting

VP Financial Operations

Lisa Donahue

Bio

I’m in charge of Matrix’s accounting, tax, and HR — which means I wear plenty of hats. It’s a role that requires juggling a lot of variables, but I’ve been doing that for a long time.

I’ve always loved numbers; my family is full of educators, and my favorite cousin taught math. My interest in numbers led me to pursuing a degree in accounting and eventually an MBA in finance.

Before joining Matrix I held a leadership role at Gradient, an environmental consulting firm. It was an education in managing many tasks across a multifunctional team. We were a small firm so I had a diverse set of responsibilities, giving me an opportunity to hone my multi-tasking skills and grow my aforementioned hat collection.

After nearly seven years at Gradient (and several other roles in the consulting world) I was ready for a change. Matrix was immediately appealing — the firm’s roster of success spoke for itself, and the world of venture capital came with an abundance of welcome challenges. I’ve been here ten years now, and still get excited watching our portfolio grow from small seeds to industry leaders.

Experience

Gradient Corporation
Controller

Arthur D. Little
Manager of Accounting Operations

Primark Corporation
Manager of Accounting & Reporting

Marriott Corporation
Hotel Assistant Controller

Education

Bentley College, Waltham
MA. MBA Finance

University of Massachusetts, Boston MA.
BS Management/Accounting

Certified Public Accountant
Massachusetts

Honors/Memberships

Financial Executives International
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Executive Search

Scott Khanna

Bio

Prior to joining Matrix, Scott served in various recruiting capacities at eBay & PayPal for more than five years. In his most recent role, Scott built and managed eBay’s Center of Excellence for Executive Search.

Additionally, he was responsible for leading a team of in-house executive search consultants with global responsibility for setting strategies to address the most critical leadership (SVP, VP, & Director) roles across eBay, Inc. (PayPal, eBay Marketplaces, Classifieds, and Global Functions).